Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson snubbed from Ryder Cup dinner as Bradley speaks out

The recent Team USA Ryder Cup dinner had some notable exclusions as only two players from the LIV Golf circuit were invited, sparking discussions about who would make Keegan Bradley's squad.

Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were both invited to the dinner ahead of the PGA Championship, yet travel issues forced DeChambeau to dial in virtually, suggesting the pair are still in Bradley's plans regardless of their LIV affiliation.

Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, and Bubba Watson, all playing on the Saudi-backed tour, didn't receive invites, hinting at a potential snub. The news has surfaced ahead of the PGA Championship this week, with 16 LIV stars teeing it up with the Ryder Cup on the horizon.

In other Ryder Cup news, Jon Rahm had a spiky exchange regarding his position with the European team during his press conference, while Bradley stressed the importance of this week's event for his American contenders.

Confirming the exclusive guest list for his dinner, captain Bradley commented: "Yeah, we invited Brooks and Bryson, and they were in there on points and they played on previous teams. It was great to have them there.

"They were - it was exciting to - this Ryder Cup and what comes with this, no one cares about what's going on in this side PGA TOUR-LIV. We're trying to put the best team together.

"It could mean there's one LIV guy, two LIV guys, it doesn't matter. We'll see how this year shakes out. It was really great to have them together with all the guys. It's been a while since we've been able to do that."

Bradley also gave his take on the challenges of evaluating LIV players due to fewer analytics available and less chance to watch them, admitting: "Yeah, maybe. Listen, we've got - these guys are playing in all four of the majors, so we'll have that. These guys, a lot of them are up in these leaderboards every major.

"We'll see how the year shapes out. The data is a little less at LIV. We don't have quite the same stats that we have out here, but we have some.

"We know winning and contending on any tour at any level is difficult. I don't care where you play. I played the mini-tours. Winning there was difficult. Winning on the LIV is difficult. You can see guys - winning a LIV event is a big deal."